


Paper Skin

by LixaLizz



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Implied Nico di Angelo/Will Solace, Insecure Leo Valdez, M/M, Romantic Soulmates, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Writing on Skin
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-31
Updated: 2019-05-06
Packaged: 2019-11-14 20:25:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,738
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18059471
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LixaLizz/pseuds/LixaLizz
Summary: Nico laughs. He fucking shook his shoulders at his friends. His mouth twisted into an uncomfortable smile. His eyes blurred around the edges. Of course.Of course, none of them would understand having the skin of paper.Having ink run down your arms and slowly drown away, being ripped out apart by the simplest thing. For what?So he could see who still had those stupid pens that marked their skin, as well as his own? So he could finally see what his soulmate looked like? So he could see who tried to carefully stitch back the thin paper together? So he could see who loved him without actually meeting him?It was pathetic to watch and Nico wanted none of it.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> please validate me in the comments. i'm sorry if you do and i don't respond

_"First day of school, Nico!"_

_A hesitant pause._

_"Aren't you excited?"_

_A shy voice had perked up. "Not really,” the voice mumbled._

_"Oh? Why not? You'll meet new people! It's so much fun, I promise."_

_There was an awkward silence, the air only filled with the soft breaths each child exhaled._

_"Nico?" The girl asked again. She stared expectantly at the other kid, a boy. Her brother._

_"Fine. I'll go. But only because you want me to."_

_"Great! I'll see you at recess, so don't worry too much, okay? I heard your teacher is very great at her job!"_

_"Okay,” he said hesitantly._

_"Just, 'Okay'?'' the girl—Bianca—pressed on._

_"Yeah."_

_"Oh, fine.” She huffed out a breath. “Let's go before we miss the bus."_

_"Okay."_

 

_A five year old Italian shyly walked into a room. It smelled like the rose garden in the back of his house. It relaxed him. He glanced around the room. Only a few kids had arrived yet. Very cautiously, the boy—whose name was Nico—took the seat farthest from the front._

_He placed his small, padded backpack on the corners of his chair and gazed out the side window._

_His hand supported his head very lazily as he watched the kids on the playground. It was weird to watch, he thought. There were kids who were running around, playing tag and such. There were others who sat down on the field, who watched the older kids play a game called kickball. There were the kids who clung along the school's walls and gritted a rolled up cigarette between their teeth, despite their ages._

_It disgusted him. All of it._

_"Hi, there!" a voice startled him._

_Nico turned to see where the voice came from. A yellow-haired boy plopped himself to the chair across from Nico. He had about a gazillion freckles covering his face._

_"Hi," Nico said flatly, turning his whole body to face the other boy. He didn’t want to talk, but his mother didn’t raise a rude, impolite boy._

_"What's your name?"_

_After a second of Nico just staring at him, the blonde kid awkwardly laughed in an expected kid-ish way. "My name's William. You can call me Will, though.” The boy fiddled around with his fingers like he was anxious. Maybe excited. “Do you wanna be friends?"_

_This 'Will' kid had a blue shirt on, Nico noticed, which was the same color as his eyes._

_Nico titled his head to his side. He'd never really made eye contact with new people before. But this kid's eyes were actually nice to look at. They were all sparkly and wasn’t the color of the sky, but something homier, like the blue flowers in the front gardens._

_"My name is Nico."_

_Will's grin somehow got bigger. "That's an amazing name!"_

_Nico's child-brain stuttered to a stop. "Thanks," he said, a little tone of confusion at the end. His face was a bit pink, but Will couldn’t have really noticed._

_"I heard kindergarten will be really fun! My older sisters said that we'd-"_   _He paused and made a face. “_ _They_   _said we'd learn-uh. Learn some new things. I think that's the word."_

_Nico lifted his gaze from the wooden knots from the table. "Oh, cool," he said. He couldn’t help his monotone voice. It’s just who I am, he thought._

_He couldn't bring himself to be rude to someone who was nice. Voluntarily, too. He would have to tell Bianca what had happened that day at school._

_Will started blabbering some story about his sisters, and how he loved the toys that were in the corner of the room, and how there were so many markers at their table. He's never seen so many, he said, justifying his thoughts._

_Nico made a weak smile. He made a new friend._

 

_"Class class!" the teacher called, clapping her hands together._

_The whole class stopped a low murmur of, "Yes yes," shot through the room._

_"Now we will learn about the people of the earth! Please stop coloring in your shapes, and put your paper in a pile on your table." The teacher had too much blush on, so it looked like she had two bright pink dots in the center of her cheeks._

_Will sighed in response. "Aw," he whispered to Nico. He pulled the cap off and covered the marker he was holding._

_Will glanced at Nico. "Hey, Nico! I don't think we're supposed to be doing that," whispered Will. “One of my sister’s once said, ‘Drawing on yourself should be illegal. It causes so much trouble.’ I don’t know if I agree with her-“ (Will barely has barely understood what she meant.) “-but just in case! I think you should stop.”_

_Nico shrugged. He didn't see the problem. He was only doodling on the back of his hand like he usually did. Today he chose the shapes he'd learned earlier to form a house; blue triangle and square, stacked upon each other in the center of his hand._

_He was almost doing the outline of a tree when a loud sigh from the opposite side of the room perked up the ears of everyone._

_The teacher's smile stiffened. Her name was Miss Hestia, he remembered._

_Or maybe it was Mrs. Hera. He couldn't remember. There were so many teachers that came into the room and introduced them self to the twenty-five five-year-olds. He just simply could not remember._

_"What's wrong, dear?" said Miss H (Nico decided that was the name he was going to use for her. It was much suitable, he thought. Now he couldn't get in trouble if he said the wrong name.)_

_The kid piped up. "It's just that-"_ _He sighed dramatically. "Never mind. It's just my hand."_

_The teacher’s smile looked forced, Nico noticed. "Oh?” she said._

_The kid expectantly looked at her with an intense gaze, with his soft-child eyes. She cleared her throat. "We'll look at it after the lesson, okay? I'm sure it's fine."_

_The kid sighed again. "Fine."_

_Miss H just smiled bigger. "Great." She clasped her hands loudly. "I see that most of you cleaned up your workspace. Good job! If you cleaned up, you can come to get a golden sticker!"_

_A loud, amazed gasp came out of Will's mouth. Nico looked over._

_"I love stickers!" Will said, getting out of his chair. Nico smiled at him again._

_"Me too." (No he didn't. He just decided he liked whatever Will liked. It was better to have a friend than no friend at all, so that's how Nico decided he was going to keep Will as a one.)_

 

 

_"Hey, Nico."_

_Nico face-planted into the cushion of the living room couch. His school day was finally over. Nico felt relieved. So his little brain told him to say that._

_"I-I'm re-"_

_Bianca dropped her bag on the floor. It landed heavily, making a soft 'Thud!' sound. "Sorry," she said. She hated interrupting people._

_"I'm relieved-"_

_"Oh, Nico! Is that a word you learned today! I told you you'd learn so much!"_

_Nico made a face. So much for ‘hating interrupting people.’_

_"I'm relieved that school is over," he said finally finished._

_Bianca's smiling face was promptly replaced by a frown. "Oh, Nico," she said softly._

_Nico shrugged. "I made a friend today, though," he said. But only because he knew Bianca would be happy hearing that._

_"His name is Will."_

 

 

_First grade. New day. New year. A new set of students. Maybe Nico would finally make some new friends._

_"Hi," he practiced his greeting in his head, so when he finally spotted Will, he didn’t have to pause or stutter like he usually did._

_The golden-haired boy was standing by the playground. He was talking to someone. Someone notably much taller, and much older._

_Nico walked faster, he wanted to see who he was talking to. When he approached Will, the blonde gestured to the other boy._

_"This is Percy!" Will said. Enthusiasm cradled in his voice._

_"Hi," said Percy. His face was a bit round, Nico noted. His cheekbones were high, and his lips were wet with saliva._

_Six-year-old Nico did not know yet, but he thought he was kind of ... cute?_

_Nico observed him more, though. He didn't greet him back. This 'Percy' kid had a brooding look. Short, choppy hair swept over his forehead. He had a small beauty mark below his jawline, but Nico didn't bring that to anyone's attention._

_After a few seconds of awkward silence (or maybe that was just Nico not paying attention), Will waved goodbye to Percy and led Nico to one of the empty spots on the school courtyard._

_Will grinned. He had already lost three teeth, and one of them was in the front. Nico tried not to stare and hoped that Will didn't mind._

_"Do you know who that is?" Will said, an exciting emotion pouring into his eyes._

_"Uh," Nico said. "No, I don't."_

_Will lost a little excitement but looked joyful nonetheless. "That's okay. I'll tell you."_

_Nico nodded, hands fidgeting with his backpack straps. He had only just noticed that he was still wearing it. He looked at Will._

_He wasn't wearing his. Nico wondered where he placed it somewhere else—or if he even had one. It could’ve been likely._

_"So, he's like in fourth grade! Isn't that cool! He walked up to me and-"_ _Will's face kind of fell. "Well, he thought I was someone else. But that's okay! He made, uh, conversation with me anyways!"_

_Nico made a face. "It's 'anyway.'"_

_The blonde boy tilted his head in a questioning way. His friendly manner still lingered, though. "What?"_

_"The word is 'anyway' not 'anyways'," Nico repeated. His face was probably a bit pink now, face hunched over his chest as if he were embarrassed. But wasn’t he? Wasn’t he embarrassed? He remembered one time he corrected his Aunt’s grammar one time, not so long ago, and he had been put in time out for “disrespecting” an elder. That was surely embarrassing._

_Nico but his bottom lip._

_Oh, gods, why'd I have to correct him? he thought._

_Nico's nerdy brain mentally blushed. Then Nico's nerdy face physically blushed._

_"Oh," said Will._

_"Yeah."_

_And then they carried on like Nico wasn’t as smart as he was._

 

 

_"Welcome to art class one-o-one!"_

_Nico pressed his lips together. He nudged Will, who was sitting next to him. They were both wearing too big of an apron, which collectively passed both of their feet._

_"Huh?" Will asked, eyes still glued to the teacher. He had tried to listen to both Nico_ and _the teacher, while they were talking, but it was no use._

_"You think we're going to paint today?" the other boy repeated. Nico made an internal face; it was Will’s third time asking that one question, and it was Nico’s third time asking for that one word answer._

_The golden-haired boy shrugged. "I don't know, honestly."_

_Nico sighed. Will went back to focusing on what the teacher was saying._

_Nico decided, well, Will could just tell him what the teacher had said. That_ _left him to his own, tight-minded (and not to mention a bit imaginary) world to live in._

_His eyes wandered around the room. He saw some girl who was tracing the lines on the table with her finger, and another girl whispering to her friend. He spotted someone with bright blue eyes, much like Will's, but certainly not quite. He noticed a girl who was holding a bright purple pen in her hand, completely ignoring everyone else. He saw someone with big, gigantic lips, and someone with too small of eyeglasses. He made a face at all of them—internally of course—and stopped his staring when he saw an elf pick up a pen._

_Nico watched intently. The elf boy—who had pointy ears—started drawing on the paper in front of him. He had quick hands. His tongue stuck out of his parted mouth, his brows creased together in deep thought._

_"-Nico."_

_Nico snapped his head to Will, who had called his name. "Uh, are you okay? I said your name, like, three million times."_

_Nico shrugged. He moved his eyes to the face of Will. It seemed like he had so many stars on his skin, instead of freckled. Each star held a different spot on his face, and Nico found that that trait was so lovely. Nico could often make constellations out of them if he tried hard enough._

_"So did you hear what we're supposed to be doing?" Will asked. His hand was outstretched, reaching for the table supply caddy._

_Nico shrugged. "I thought you'd help me out a bit." Will smiled again._

_Oh, gods, both of their first-grade brains were very interesting._

_The Italian boy saw that the blonde was getting a marker out of the caddy, so he followed in pursuit._

 

 

_"Uh, Nico, I think you got some ink on your arm."_

_Nico glanced at his right arm, the one Will just pointed out. There was a smudge of black, so Nico just rubbed it with his finger._

_It didn’t seem to go away. He rolled up his sleeve to see where else the ink must’ve gone._

_On it was a long, spiky dragon, outstretched with its tail curved by his elbow and its head facing his wrist. The wings were spread out across the rest of his arm, a great art piece for an arm and a ... and a six-year-old? Perhaps._

_"Woah! Nico, did you draw that?"_

_Nico nodded his head in shock, too. He didn't know where it came from. It had made him a little startled when he saw it. Confused, even. "_ _N-no."_

_"Oh? Then what happened?"_

_Nico made a concerned face. “I dunno,” he mumbled. Quickly, he had attempted to raise his hand in the air._

_The teacher promptly came over to him once she saw. "Yes, dear?" she asked when she approached. She glanced at his arm quickly. "Oh! Did you draw this? It looks amazing, dear."_

_Nico made a deeper frown as if he didn't already look older than he actually was. "Actually, no miss, that's why I raised my hand. It's because it just appeared. I don't know how."_

_The teacher froze. "Oh, uh, okay dear. That's quite alright. We'll have to, er, inform the admin of this." Her voice was a little high pitched as if she was surprised._

_When she got up to go to the classroom's phone, she mumbled a few words. "He's too young to have soulmate marks," and, "This is extraordinary," and among other things that were very interesting for a first-grade art teacher to say._

_Nico heard all of it._

 

_"Hello, Nico," said the person in front of him. It was supposedly the principal of the school. Whatever that meant._

_"Hi," he said shyly. His mother was sitting cross-legged on the side of him. He didn't know why he was there.  
_

_Actually, he did, but he didn't know what any of those words he had heard meant. He was just abruptly taken out of his art class, where an admin’s assistant ushered him to the front offices. They said that they were there to make sure he was okay. (Nico didn’t understand what that meant.)_

_Then they called his mom, and Nico started biting his lip._

_"Am I in trouble?"_

_The man in front of him chuckled. His name was ... Mr. Zeus, was it? "Nico, my student. Of course, you are not. We are just, er, here for evaluation-"_

_Nico made a face._ Evaluation?

 _Mr. Zeus looked at him with soft eyes, but to Nico, it looked forced and fake. “_ _Nico, evaluation means-"_

_"I know what evaluation means, mister," he interrupted, voice low and hoarse._

_"Oh!" his mother squeaked. She knew her son was smart. But just not_ how  _smart._

_Mr. Zeus cleared his throat. He directed his attention to her and started. "Well, Mrs. di Angelo-"_

_"I'm sorry for interrupting-" (Nico didn't think she was sorry,) "-but it is just Miss." Mr. Zeus made a face of confusion, so the Italian's mother elaborated: "Miss di Angelo. Or Miss Maria. Or just Maria is fine. Whichever you prefer."_

_Mr. Zeus made his lips press into a thin line. "Of course,_ Miss  _di Angelo. As I was saying, your son is certainly-" he made some hand gestures as if he were trying to grab the right words in the air._

 _"_ _-special," is what he decided on. "He shows signs of very interesting academic knowledge of the grades above him. I firstly suggest you have him take a specialized test so we can properly place him in an environment that will actually academically challenge him to be his best self."_

_Miss di Angelo nodded, taking a quick look at Nico. "My baby boy," she whispered into his ear later in that day, "is so special. So smart."_

_Mr. Zeus continued. "And second, I advise you to have a talk about, er, soul-marks with your son. As you may know, Nico had told the teacher that he had a 'mysterious mark' that 'just appeared' on his arm, today. After some examination in the nurse's office, we would professionally say that your son developed an early case of fully developed and operational soul-marks."_

_Maria di Angelo froze. "Oh?" she said._

_"Yes," Mr. Zeus said. "He is a very rare case where his soulmate might've already ... also experienced the soul-marks. Or, uh, something. Apologies for my lack of knowledge on this subject."_

_"It is quite all right." Miss di Angelo glanced at her son. "But about his learning challenges. Would I be able to let him take a test here? If it is available?"_

_The principal finally looked as if he didn't have a stick up his ass. "Yes, yes, of course. We can make an appointment right now if you would like."_

_Nico's mother smiled at that. "That'd be lovely. Can, uh, I also make some other arrangements for Nico and his sister with you? Right now, I mean."_

_"Of course. Nico might need to take a seat outside my office, though."_

_A tight smile wound up on the woman's face. "Right, right." She pulled Nico under her arms along with his backpack. "Stay right here, all right, dear? I will come out here shortly. We will go home after I am done talking with Mr. Zeus."_

_Nico's lips trembled. "Am I in trouble? Why can I not stay at school for the rest of the day?"_

_"Oh, honey, you're not in trouble. I promise. And, we will have to talk about it later, okay?"_

_"Okay."_


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Stuck outside, and stuck in his head.
> 
> Oh man, what was he going to do with these awful memories?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> okay so to avoid lengthy breaks between each chapter, I’m setting a goal of at least one chapter every two weeks. I hope this doesn’t disappoint you in any way, but know that every day I try to add on and improve the chapter I am currently making

"Bianca!"

There was no reply. Only the sound of the wind filled the boy’s ears—Nico's—throat also dry from the cold.

"Bianca!" 

A short huff from a shaky breath was faintly heard was heard on the other side of the door.

"Bianca, I know you can hear me!" Nico shouted. He rolled his eyes in frustration. His sister could just be plain _annoying_.

"Open up this door,  _goddamnit!"_

A longer huff this time, but it was because of shaking laughter. The front doorknob jiggled from Nico aggressively twisting it.

"You should've gotten home earlier then, you smartass!" was the reply. The snarky tone of the voice had made Nico scowl. This was the first _real_ response he had gotten from Bianca from the past few minutes. And it was addressing him as ‘dumbass’ and not as ‘brother.’

 _Siblings_ , Nico thought bitterly, _are so irritating._

The Italian boy‘s lips pressed into a pursed line. "Mom's going to get mad at you for locking me out of the house again!" Nico shouted. He tried to be patient. Tried to reason. Tried to be _actually fucking bearable._ But of course, Bianca disagreed.

"I don't care!” she shouted back. “Mom's never home, anyway." 

The short boy let out a frustrated groan. He needed to stop working himself up like this. He closed his eyes and bit his lip tightly. She was right, after all.

Wasn't she?

Maria di Angelo did get careless, after so many hazy nights. What would she do anyway? If she did find out, that is. Would she throw out Bianca? Throw Nico out too? It would not be the first time. Nico pinched the bridge of his nose. After a few seconds of thought, he came to the conclusion he was looking for. He smirked. He knew how to get into the house.

"Fine!" he hollered. "But I'll go tell Aunt Arty about it!" There was no longer snickering on the other side of the door. Nico had won this round.

 

 

_"Nico! We're going to be late for your testing!"_

_A loud thud came from the stairs. A forceful shout echoed across the walls: "I said I'm coming!" The voice sounded irritated but excited nonetheless._

_The voice suddenly emerged from the shadows. It was Nico, wearing his aviator jacket—the one that his sister had gifted him—and a pair of cuffed jeans he tried to do himself. His black side-swept hair made his mother smile._

_“Oh, my dear is getting so big now," she said, trying to embrace him into her arms, but it had been too forceful for Nico to like. He flinched. He hated hugs._

_"Are you ready?" she asked after a second. Maria di Angelo carded a strand of hair behind Nico’s ear. It was like she didn't notice his reaction._

_His eyes glazed over._ _"I don't-" he cleared his throat. "I don't know, mother." He glanced to his side and bit his bottom lip. "Is Bianca not joining us?"_

_His mother's smile dissolved into a thin line. It was hard for Nico to see her like that._

_Unhappy._

Displeased _._

_She brushed her fingers over the side of his face; skin hovering over skin. "She will not, dear," she said quietly. "Your father requested for her not to."_

_Nico frowned. "Why not? Is father not going to join us, either?" He made a small fist of his hand. "I thought this test was important. Why isn't he coming, too!" he commanded._

_Maria di Angelo clasped her hands around her son's. Nico stilled. Sometimes his mother could be intimidating._

_"You know what your father is doing. He needs to make sure Bianca knows what she will be doing in a couple of years once she takes over his company. They both must attend a very extensive meeting this morning." She noticed how disappointed Nico looked. Lost. Abandoned._ Frustrated _._

_She rubbed her nose against his nose in an act of trying to comfort him. "Please do not take this the wrong way, my little dear. She will be back tomorrow, and you can join your father with them, too."_

_"Right." He averted his gaze to the ground. "Let us go then. We should make haste," he said._

_Maria smiled. "That's my Nico."_

 

 

"I do not believe you,” said Bianca after a second.

Nico narrowed his eyes at no one particular. "You don’t believe me?” he asked. Of course, she didn’t believe him. No one did.

”Aunt Arty scares you. I doubt you have the courage to even call her about her day."

Nico shook the door again. He balled his hand into a fist and started knocking on the door angrily. Bianca sadistically chuckled.

"Open the door, you asshat!" 

"Me, on the other hand," she continued, "would be delighted if you did. Do tell her I will join her scouts' meeting next week, would you?"

Nico scowled. His chest bubbled. Every _fucking_ time. _Every. Single. Fucking. Time._ No one believed he could do such a daring thing, such as calling his own cousin (he called her Aunt as a sign as respect—and for the fact that she was notably way older than himself and Bianca).

"Watch me!" he snarled. He stomped down the steps of the wooden porch. "Watch me _fucking_ do it!"

 

 

_"Hello, Nico," said Mr. Zeus. "Do you know why we are here today?"_

_Nico shifted in his seat. His eyes were darker than their usual colors, which was weird itself. Nico was usually giddy about these things. "Yes," he replied, trying to keep his answers one worded and short.  
_

_"That's great! We just wanted to let you know before you start, that whatever score you-"_

_"-that I will get, I will still be supported by everyone here. Yes, yes, I know." Nico rolled his eyes in annoyance. "I saw your script on the receptionist's desk. No need to make me feel even worse about myself."_

_Maria tightly squeezed Nico's arm. "My, my." She warningly glanced at her son. "Nico doesn't usually snap like that. I suppose he just doesn't feel well. Or maybe he’s nervous.” She awkwardly chuckled. “It’s always hard to tell with my little dear.”_

_Nico hung his head even lower._

_Mr. Zeus, however, beamed even more. "Your son is in second-grade, yes?"_

_Maria blushed. She put a dainty hand to her cheek and made a face of pleasure. She looked embarrassed but in a good way. "No, actually. He's in first grade."_

_Mr. Zeus smiled. “Well_ _, then. I suppose if he read part of the written script,_ and _memorized_ _it that well, then I should hope he does get moved up into an, er, challenging environment. Are you ready then, Mr. di Angelo? And please know there is nothing to feel bad about. You are a very bright child."_

_It was silent for a moment. You could only hear the soft 'tick-tick' of the wall clock._

_"I am ready," Nico mumbled. His mother squeezed his arm even harder. Her nails had recently been done, so the sharp edges had dug into his jacket. His skin felt sensitive, and almost pierced, but he didn’t dare say a word._

_"Very good," she whispered. “Very, very good.”_

 

 

Nico ended up walking around the neighborhood. If his sister did not let him into the house, then he would handle it like the almost-adult he was.

”Stupid fucking sister,” was his solution: a muttered complaint. His hands were placed in each of his jacket pockets. It was actually quite cold, the temperature reddening his cheeks and making his hands cracked and dry. “And stupid fucking door.”

He kicked a rock that was in his path. It was just so frustrating, he thought. He had forgotten his house key that day, so he would have to wait until his sister was not acting like an ass, or until his mother came home, which would not be for another few hours.

Nico slumped his shoulders. Everything sucked. Everything in this whole _goddamn_ world _sucked_.

 

 

_“Hello, sweetie,” a principal’s assistant said. She had just walked into the room when Mr. Zeus had hollered through the walls that Miss di Angelo's son was ready to be escorted to the testing room. She continued her thoughts, “I hear that your name is Nico?”_

_Nico slumped his shoulders. The woman had sharp cheekbones and a pointy chin. She looked like a stereotypical witch, with a mole on her nose and everything. It kind of intimidated him._

_”Yes,” he said. His eyes were glued to the floor._

_”Well, then, follow me.”_

_She creaked the principal’s door open, a patient look on her face. She had a folder in her right arm. In her left, she gestured for Nico to exit the room._

_Maria di Angelo tugged on his arm before he went off. “Make mommy proud, okay dear.” Her eyes were locked into an intense gaze. She licked her lips once._

_Nico paused. He tried to hold back the hysteria in his eyes. The laughable factors that weren’t even supposed to be funny. The_ fact _that it seemed like his mother was only there to show him off like a trophy. Like a deer's head caught from a hunter's gun, or a gambled prize that was won with the chances of one in a million._

_”Yes, mother,” his second-grade mouth said, voice monotone like he was trying to hide the feelings in his head._

_The assistant—in which he soon learned her name was Miss Hestia (Nico concluded that his other teacher was Mrs. Hera)—soon led him into a back hallway located at the far side of his school campus. They ended up in front of a thick, gray door. There were many wooden knots still visible through the door's paint. It was ajar; a sliver of artificial light peaking through each of the fairly large cracks of it._

_”So Nico,” the woman started, “the test will start once every student who has applied to take it is present. So, it might be a little while for all the people to get here. There are some puzzles in front of the room if you get bored waiting.”_

_Nico smiled pleasantly. He certainly wasn’t a rude boy, no matter what mood he was in. “Okay,” he mumbled._

_He walked through the large doorway. A hospital-like smell washed over his nose. Sanitizers and lemon-scented wipes overpowered the damp, sock smell from the hallway. The walls were all a boring gray, lined with black floorboards. The ceiling was at least triple the size of Nico himself, and the two windows in the back were stained with water drops._

_There were two circular tables in the center of the room each as big as Nico, a not-so-white whiteboard in the front (mostly marked by other markers that never washed away and whiteboard markers were scattered all along the floor because gods’ know how), and a black shelf stuffed with books and puzzles and board games in the back of the room._

_Miss Hestia patted Nico to enter faster._ _She then pointed to the chairs situated at the first table of the room. “Those seats are for some older students,” she stated. “So please don’t sit in those chairs.” Her nails also had long, fake nails (like a witch! Nico observed), done with bright red and silver nail-polish, so whenever she tapped on his shoulder, the ends would tickle the patch of skin beneath it._

_They both walked forward (actually, it was mostly Miss Hestia; she glided along the floor in fluid motions and just pushed Nico along the way). There was already an alone kid at the first table. Someone with electric eyes and a leg-bouncing problem. The person—a short haired boy—didn't pay any attention to Nico and Miss Hestia. He just picked at his nails and lazily looked at the ground._

_Miss Hestia cleated her throat. ”This table-” she said, pointing to the second wooden table, “-is for the younger kids like you. There will be four other kids who will be testing with you. I heard from your mom that you tend to be antisocial-“_

_She stopped when she saw Nico’s face. His concentrated gaze on the floor made her backtrack what she said._

_”-which isn’t a very bad thing at all!” she exclaimed. “Antisocialness is normal, so don’t feel like you must change anything about yourself for this class. But, you must know you will be spending a lot of time with these brain-talented kids, so you might as well make friends with them.”_

_She awkwardly crouched down to meet Nico at eye level. “Look, Nico, you’re a brilliant kid.” (He made a face at that statement.) “You are also very special, soul-bonded wise.” (Nico didn’t understand that part.) “Please do not give up on yourself.” (Nico pressed his lips together at that.)_

_He didn’t try to understand what she meant. He wasn’t brilliant. He wasn’t special. He didn’t even have the power in himself to see what he would be giving up on._

_”Fine,” is what he muttered instead of all thoughts in his head, as he took a seat in the too-_ _big-_ _of-a-chair._

 

 

Nico ended up walking to the nearby park. It was covered in icicles, the green paint tinted a white because of it. By then, it was almost sunset. Nico sighed. He didn't like having more night hours than day hours when he was locked out of his own home. It wasn’t late enough for the sky to be mixing with golds and oranges, with a blue tinge to the edges like it normally did; it was the time of day where the sky was dark blue, the sun illuminating bright yellows into the never-ending sky.

The weather was still cold, nonetheless. He folded his hands to the insides of his torso, where he tried to keep warm. He had his years-old aviator jacket on (ironically gifted to him by Bianca), and a black t-shirt. He pressed the heels of his hands to his sides. Grasping at mostly his shirt, he huffed out a breath.

Eventually, his sister had to take pity on him, right? Realize her mistake of leaving her younger brother outside in the cold, and become empathetic once again?

Nico cupped his hands to his mouth and blew. Warm air touched the tips of his fingers, but he could barely feel it.

As the last resort he ever wanted to _ever_ do, he shakily took his cracked phone out from his pocket and went to his contacts. He scrolled through the list of names (all sorted by their first names alphabetically). 

His thumb almost pressed on his other aunt's profile:  _Aphrodite. (A distant relative, basically. His family tree was confusing, but just calling everyone with the title of 'Aunt' or 'Uncle' usually made his father side's happy.)_

Then:  _Apollo. (His cousin, twin sibling of Aunt Artemis. Also called uncle for the sign of respect. Might also have to do with the fact that he was_ way _older than he should have been.)_

_Annabeth Chase. (Met through a friend's friend's friend. A few levels higher than an acquaintance, but not a definite friend. A friendly classmate, if you will.)_

_Ares. (Also somehow related to him? How? Nico didn't know, nor did he care. He just remembered exchanging numbers with him at a family gathering on his father's side. A bit of a hot head, if he remembered correctly.)_

He scrolled more (which was surprising. He didn’t know he knew so many people with their names starting with an ‘A’) and—

_Bingo!_

He clicked on the next name.

_Artemis._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I kind of feel weird not making chapter endnotes, so here ya' go:  
> I kept writing and rewriting one part of this story that contained the word 'ever' and it made me go crazy. You know that weird feeling where you keep staring at a word and then it becomes so weird looking after some time and then you feel like you spelled it incorrectly but you totally did spell it correctly? Yeah, that happened to me. Just stare at the word. It does get a bit crazy once you stare at it (or any word for that matter)


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yes, yes. I will let Bianca know she can get suspended for not being a kind leader, even in her own home, away from the watching, easily influenced scouts, even though that’s what you taught her for the past three years.” Just to assure Artemis, he added, “Yeah.”
> 
> Nico closed his eyes for a second. “And you also want me to tell her that she better not forget about the upcoming family reunion? Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to hear that news either.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this will be edited within the next week, just a heads up

_It took exactly seventeen minutes for the other four ‘brain-talented’ students to show up._

_The first one to arrive was a blonde girl. She arrived with thick curly hair and smoky gray eyes._

_Nico was calmly sitting by the black shelves, working on an erasable sudoku puzzle he found._

_He used a blue dry erase marker he found on the floor to write on the smooth-surfaced paper. It was for non-porous material, great for using on the specially made paper, boring glass window, and dirty (not-so-white) whiteboard._

_The blonde girl, however, disagreed._

_”Hey!” she first greeted when she entered the room. As she realized what Nico was doing, “What are you doing?” followed. Miss Hestia trailed behind her slowly, as if she was observing the kids around her. She stood still as she pushed the little girl into the dark room._

_Nico shrugged at the questions. He was barely tall enough to even reach the bottom of the window, so he pulled up a chair from the second table to stand on. The older student—the blue-eyed one—just calmly tapped his foot and yawned._

_He had already done the sudoku puzzle. He got through two pages before deciding that it was getting too boring. His head glanced around the room._

_As a first-grader’s mind should be thinking about, he had decided drawing clouds on the glass window would be way more fun. At first, he reluctantly swiped the same marker off of the floor and waited for someone to scold him. But no one did (not even the older kid!). He continued on. He drew three fluffy clouds, making sure there was a perfectly shaped airplane flying through it._

_The other girl quietly watched, questions dialing back a few notches_

_“Hi,” she said when she approached closer. It was like both of them had disregarded all the (very bothering) questions that had just been asked._

_”Hi,” Nico echoed flatly. He_ _tugged down his aviator jacket as it was riding up his torso._

_”What’s your name?”_

_Nico sighed quietly. Why did she just have to interrupt his very good moment of peaceful drawing? He managed to look over his shoulder. He didn’t want to look rude._

_”’m Nico,” he mumbled. He curiously eyed up the girl. She was wearing plain blue sneakers. He looked back to the window._

_”Hi!” she said again. Nico pursed his lips together. She said that already. “I’m Annabeth.”_

_Nico nodded slowly. “Hi,” he said lamely. He made an internal face. He hated repetition, but there he was repeating the same overused word at the girl he didn’t seem to make any connections with._

_Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi. Hi._

_What was next, “How’s the weather, how’s the weather,_ how’s the weather?”

_”So-“ she shook his chair ligh_ _tly, seeing if she could rile up him. Nico chewed his lip at that, “-what are you doing?” she repeated._

_Nico stopped moving the marker across the glass and simply climbed down to the floor. The Annabeth girl was a few inches taller than him, giving her a view of the top of Nico’s head._

_”I’m drawing.” Nico observed her sweatshirt. He guessed she was maybe two, even three years older than him. Although their interaction was awkward and stiff, he could tell she was an extrovert. She was smiling, hands on her hip like she was an authoritative figure watching kids running through the hallways._

_”What’re you drawing?”_

_Nico pursed his lips together. Couldn’t she see what he was making? It was clearly a jumble of fluffy clouds, and a swift airplane making a mad dash through it. "The sky," he answered stiffly._

_Annabeth nodded wisely. “Have you ever gone on an airplane before? I have, but I was so small I don’t remember any of it.”_

_Nico shrugged. “I have when I was younger. It was when I first lived in Italy. My mom needed to change something about her job or something, so we moved here.”_

_He then shrugged back into his own space as if everything he was saying was too insightful to who he was. Annabeth didn’t falter at that and instead patted him on the back._

_“Oh, that’s cool.” She drawled on and on and on about something else, something along the lines of_ My mom _and_ Yale _and_ considered a genius at her age _or something. After a while, it seemed like her mouth was too worn to talk anymore. She waved at him while she walked over to the bookshelf._

_Nico felt relieved she was gone. But that made him feel guilty, too._

  
  


“Hello?” a soft voice said. “Artemis speaking. Who is this?”

Nico exhaled freely. “Oh, hey, uh, Aunty. It’s me Ni-”

“Nico,” the voice said. “Yes, yes. What should I assist you in? Is your sister in need of volunteer hours again?”

He cleared his throat. “No, actually. I was just, uh, calling if-”

Nico frowned at himself. He would sound silly about the whole situation, wouldn’t he? He could have solved the problem himself, couldn’t he? He should have resolved the stupid, petty argument with his own sister, couldn’t he?

“Dear, _dear_ , child,” Artemis said, maybe too passive aggressively. “Do not waste my time.”

Nico brushed his hand over his face. He was so, so cold out there.

“Okay, so I was just wondering if you could maybe, _possibly_ -”

“Stop this dragging of your words. Spit it out. No time for unnecessary sweet-talk. Hurry up.”

“Right, of course. I was wondering if you could, like, threaten Bianca for being an as--I mean jerk to me today. She locked me out of the house again, and it’s freezing.”

He could hear an annoyed sound coming from the other side of the line. Maybe he was being too blunt? He wasn’t that close to her, but he should have known enough that she would do this for her, right? Bianca was one of her favorite scout leaders, and shaping her into a not-jerk would be of interest to her, right?

“Fine,” came the reply, snapping in Nico’s anxious thoughts.

“ _Fine_ ,” he mimicked. “No catches? No ‘but’s? No favor in return?”

“Yes, Nico. _Fine_ is my answer. But maybe I’ll hold onto this situation for future favor-returning reference.”

Nico’s cheeks were numb by then. Tapping his foot on the gravelly ground, he eyed the swingset that teetered back and forth in a hypnotizing motion, and the creaks and groans that the place resonated made Nico shudder. It was an unsettling place to be when it was nearly sundown.

“Of course,” Nico said quickly, “thanks.”

  
  


_The next person to enter the classroom with Miss Hestia was a boy named Leo Valdez. He had a loud and obnoxious personality and a way of hooking you into listening to whatever he was rambling about._

_At first, Miss Hestia didn’t push him into the classroom like she did with Annabeth and himself, but watched as he entered the door, beaming like he knew he was already going to be in the accelerated program._

_He was most definitely a social butterfly, taking on the conversation himself when Nico didn’t reply to whatever he was saying._

_“_ Hola _!” he said with a bright grin. His hair was unruly, strands sticking up in places that seemed to be defying gravity. As Nico continued to stare at him like the first-grader he was, hoping he’d_ get a hint _, Leo brushed his hair down with his hands self-consciously._

_“I’m Leo,” he greeted. “What’s your name?”_

_Nico already felt exhausted from interacting with Annabeth (possibly a few minutes prior. Nico didn’t count.), he just stayed quiet and hoped Leo would deem him as deaf._

_“Not a talker, huh?” Leo rambled on. “That’s okay! I saw this thing on TV where this child never spoke to anyone and was always communicating using sign language, and so my mom told me once that…”_

_Nico’s ears shut off after that._

  
  


After a few minutes of Artemis lecturing Nico about how he could have solved the problem and how could have been proactive that morning and grabbed his own keys and how _something something_ _something_ and _blah blah blah blah_ , Artemis finally took a breath in to tell Nico how to solve his problem the ‘Artemis way’

“I want you to tell her that being a scout leader means that she has to be kind to everyone, despite blood status. Tell her that not only the leaders-in-training and scouts can get suspended, leaders can be, too. Also despite blood status and how good of a superior they are.”

Nico rubbed his hand against his resting arm. It was truly cold outside. He had only started walking back home when Artemis started scolding him on how he was practically an adult and should have solved his sister-related problems on his own.

After Artemis had explained what kind of threat he should use against Bianca, she asked him if her understood what she was talking about.

“Yes, yes. I will let Bianca know she can get suspended for not being a kind leader, even in her own home, away from the watching, easily influenced scouts, even though that’s what you taught her for the past three years.” Just to assure Artemis, he added, “Yeah.”

Artemis cleared her throat. “One more thing Nico, I need you both to know something about a family thing.” Nico didn’t say anything, so she continued. “We have this family event thing our fathers need to attend, so us three need to attend, too. I already told Bianca about it, but I need you to remind her about it. I know she, uh, kind of hates our relatives, so…”

Nico closed his eyes for a second.“And you also want me to tell her that she better not forget about the upcoming family reunion? Yeah, I don’t think I’d want to hear that news either.”

She breathed out noisily. “Well, yes.” A beat of silence. “I must go now. Make sure your sister attends my next meeting with no attitudes of any kind.”

“Right. Of course, Arty.”

She ended the call, leaving Nico alone at his front porch. Cringing, he knocked on the door. “Hey, asshat!” he yelled. “Guess who’s getting suspended?”

The door yanked open.

It wasn’t Bianca who answered, it was his dad.

 _How wonderful_ , he thought. _How very, truly wonderful._

  
  


_The next person who walked through that stupid, gray door made him grimace in his own bubble._

_He had finished drawing his clouds after Leo Valdez went to go bother Annabeth instead. He sat at the wooden tables impatiently. He couldn’t wait any longer for the stupid test to start. To pass time, he had started to count how many times Leo said the word ‘huh’. He got to forty-nine, until he was rudely interupted._

_Two identical looking boys loudly entered the room. The one on the right was tall and lanky, long arms extended, and freakishly blue eyes. The one of the left was shorter than the one on the right, brown hair a mop on his head. Both had upturned eyes, like they were planning something mischieviously. Besides the height difference, they were practically the same person._

_Miss Hestia’s smile looked forced. “Alright boys, settle down, settle down,” she said to them. She pointed to a chair next to Nico. “Go sit over there. The test will start soon.”_

_Nico sat frozen, arms heavy in his lap._

_“Hiya there,” said the taller one. “I’m Travis.”_

_“Heya there,” mimicked the shorter one. “I’m Connor.”_

_The italian boy curtly nodded. “Hi.” The two boys looked expectantly at him._

_“What’s your name,” they pressed on. They each took a seat in front of Nico._

_Nico uninterestedly said, “Nico.” He eyed them both. “Are you twins?”_

_Travis shrugged. “Not at all,” he said. “We just happen to have the same face.”_

_Connor’s eyes crinkled around the corners, mouth smirking into oblivion. “Don’t mind us.”_

_Miss Hestia called Leo and Annabeth over. “Let’s start this test then,” she spoke slowly. “We can all introduce ourselves later.”_

_Leo Valdez smiled to the table. “Good luck, Nico,” he whispered._

_Nico awkwardly pretended he didn’t hear him._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> before anyone says anything, I would like to say that all throughout the PJO and HOO books, Travis and Connor Stoll prove to be smart. yes, I'll admit, they aren't exactly the definition of "goody-two-shoes" and "nerd", but they have very well thought out plans and strategies in the books. (also in both of their fandom wikis, it states Connor appears to be smarter of the two??? I don't know how they decided that, but I still think they are both very much smart) in both of their wikis, each of them have a very intriguing set of abilities that actually should deem them as intelligent. they are cunning and resourceful and so underrated


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Nico di Angelo,” his father growled, voice clearly dissatisfied and unpleasant. His eyes slanted the same way his sister’s did when she was annoyed. Nico noted how similar they looked right then. “I will not have you excuse yourself from this important event!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> mostly unedited. oops

_Pens, pens, pens, pens, pens, pens_ _  
__  
__Markers, markers, markers, markers, markers, markers_ _  
__  
__Paper, paper, paper, paper, paper, paper_ _  
__  
__and scissors;_ _  
__  
_ _  
__  
__the skin of paper, ripped to shreds, trying to get away from the bleeding ink that soaked it apart._ _  
_  
_The problem was, ripping it up before the ink even got to it had no meaning to it at all._  


 

* * *

 

  
  
"Nico," the gruff voice said before he could comprehend why his father was here. In front of him. In the house. With Bianca. In front of him _in_ the house _with_ Bianca.

Wasn't he supposed to be on a business trip? Wasn't he home three days _ahead_ of time? Oh god, he just heard him call his favorite child an _asshat_.

"Father," he mimicked, standing awkwardly on the front porch. He tilted his head over his chest, the sensation of embarrassment burning a fighting feeling through his face. He tucked his hands idly into the small pockets of his jacket and exhaled shakily.

_Great,_ he thought sarcastically _._ He rocked back and forth on his heels.

His dad cleared his throat and oh-so flatteringly stared at him.

_Just great._

“Come inside, Neeks,” he said, widening the door. Nico cringed at the nickname. He didn’t really...enjoy hearing it. It was one thing to be called Nicolas from people that think ‘Nico’ is just a nickname for it (it wasn’t). It was another (intolerable thing) to be called Neeks. It made him feel like a third grader again.

“We have much to talk about.”

Mr. di Angelo gestured widely for him to walk in the house. Nico didn’t really have a choice in that situation, now did he? He reluctantly walked through the doorway. His cold cheeks were the last of his problems now.

And of course, like the professional businessman Nico’s father was, he was wearing a suit. His dark tie was already undone, and hair a bit rumpled like he had raked his fingers through it too many times. His symmetrical, wide face was lined with two bushy eyebrows, thick hair sitting atop his head like a cat in a box, and two droopy eyes.

If he actually knew how to take care of his appearance, he might have looked more appealing.

“Nico,” he heard Bianca breathe out. On the armrest of a leather chair, she sat smug, arms crossed. Almost _teasing_. Strands of loose hair framed her face.

Their dad walked to the other side of the room, gathering some stack of paper in his hands. While her father was looking away, she stuck out her tongue like a little child.

_Thin lips quirked into a sly, devilish smile._

“Bianca,” he grit out between his teeth. When his father turned away, he mouthed _dick-eater_ in an upset whim _._ It wasn’t the best insult Nico could’ve thought of, but it was the fastest one that popped up in his mind.

Their father inhaled deeply, refocusing both of their attentions. “Hold on children. My papers don’t seem to be all here.” He turned sharply into the back hallway and distant _tap-tap-tap-_ ing of his feet could be heard. “Wait here,” he called out.

Bianca smirked back. _Dick-eater_ , she mouthed, too, making a _very_ suggestive hand motion. She stuck her tongue out again, but this time to point down her throat and make a silent gagging noise.

He approached her with an unhappy frown. “You’re a jerk,” he whispered. He paused for a dramatic second. “And Aunt Arty thinks so, too.”

Both of their hushed voices turned a volume louder.

“You, _you_ —what did you say to Arty, you— _you_ _jackass!”_

Nico felt himself become please over what she had said. Those simple words made him feel satisfied. His body would’ve identified it as joy, but it didn’t feel quite so.

The numbness between his fingers had been gone by then, but all that cold skin seemed to be worth it. He felt himself impatiently tap his foot. “You sure got some insults, _dickhead_.” (Also definitely a bad insult.)

Bianca stiffened. (Ha!) She took a moment to study his face, and then she rolled her eyes like she was unbothered (even though she totally was. Nico could tell). “You _cocksucker_ ,” she said back.

He tapped his foot faster. Provoking, provoking, _provoking_ Bianca to go on. He could have tapped his foot all day. He learned early on that only annoying can bother the annoyance. “Well—well, you’re an utter witch!”

Bianca stood up from the chair. She leveled her face with Nico’s and narrowed her brown eyes. A billion speckles of amber glistened in a flash. “What’s wrong with being a witch!” She narrowed her eyes like the great, amazing older sister she was.

Nico didn’t even hesitate. “It isn’t, but only when you look like an ugly _buffoon_!”

“Well _, you_ act like a _total_ _oaf_.”

“Hm—I could only learn from the _moron_ of the _year_!”

_“Man-whore.”_

Nico’s eye twitched. He was still a virgin for that matter! What did he do to deserve the title, ‘ _Man-whore’?_ “Two can play that game,” he whispered in a rush.

“Harlot!” he yelled. “Harlot, harlot!” he antagonized. “Full time harlot!”

“Oh don’t call me such a name,” Bianca pushed. “And plus, I _just_ caught you taking a smoke with who's-that-face.”

Nico looked in the direction their father had earlier walked through. “Dad!” he yelled. “Someone offered me a cigarette today!” He looked pointedly at Bianca, like he was trying to prove a point. Like he didn’t care whether or not his father found out that he was slowly killing his lungs with something so addicting.

His father grunted back in response. “Lung cancer is a serious thing.”

Nico coughed at that. There was no lecture, no other words said, no other warning. Nothing. No concerns, not even simple speech.

Bianca looked like she was about to pop. “Well, I saw you trying to scrub off that stupid drawn fireball off your wrist this morning. Dad said that’s not good for you and you know it.”

Scoffing, Nico sat down. “You can _fuck_ off, Bianca. We both know you don’t care that I’m ruining my lungs, or ruining my skin. We both know you don’t care.”

Bianca opened her mouth.

“Children.”

They both glanced at the door frame.

“Dad,” Bianca said, forcing a wide smile onto her face. A Cheshire-grin made its way onto her face. She slunk back down to the leather chair.

“Dad,” Nico copied. He stood up straighter and stopped tapping his foot anxiously on the ground.

When he looked up—bravely, might he add—he saw that his dad’s eyes were deeply sunken. Two wrinkly patches of skin had worked its way under his eyes when he started speaking. “Sit down. I will tell you why I am here earlier than we all expected.”

Bianca and Nico got comfortable in the room.

“We all must attend an out-of-state reunion with my extended family,” he started, head shaking thoughtfully. Almost sympathetically. _Almost._ “I know that this is a bit of an inconvenience for the both of you—and me, too, believe me I know—but this gathering will guarantee a business deal that will go through properly with the other branch of the di Angelo company.” Clasping his pale hands together, he started to fiddle with the silver ring resting on his finger. “I was just going to ask-“

“This is unbelievable,” Bianca muttered,  arms folded over each other and rolled her eyes. Mr. di Angelo’s eyebrows furrowed together. “What has our-“ she looked at Nico, looking like she was in deep thought, “-presence got to do with this deal going through or not?” An unsaid retort lingered in the air. _And why have you only come home to us for work?_

Nico had thankfully exhaled after a moment. She had snatched his thoughts out of his head and actually put it into words. Before his father could say anything, he murmured, “She’s right. I don’t want to miss school, either. So you can count me out.”

Bianca nodded at that. “Even though some of my friends suck a-“

Their dad’s mouth set into a straight, grim line.

“-lot of lies-“ _nice save,_ “-I would miss them, er, greatly. And not to mention, I would miss my classes big time. I know some of your business meetings out of town can sometimes take weeks to manage.”

An unsettling expression washed over Mr. di Angelo’s face. “You two,” he grit out threateningly, “will come whether you would like to or not. They requested to see my future chairpersons, or—if available—my descendants, to see if this deal would be in good hands in the future.” He let an irritated sigh out of his mouth.

His voice softened, facial features becoming calm again. “You two—I know—would be unhappy to attend this particular trip.” He steadied his voice. “This particular trip that will be two weeks— _tops_.”

Internally, Nico groaned miserably. He hated this talk already.

He glanced at his side. Bianca was making her infamous impatient face—where she had wrinkled her nose and pursed her lips and slanted her eyes in such an intimidating way, that this face usually got what she wanted. He could see her emotions stacking against her eyes, and slide to her throat slowly. Building up like a stove burner ticking—waiting for something to go wrong—and then _boom!_ Everything _does_ go wrong.

“And because of this,” he continued, “I’m allowing you two to bring a friend of your choice. Of course, I will be checking in with their parents once you decide on who will be accompanying you.”

_Oh,_ Nico thought. _Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh._

He tipped his head forward. “Can’t we talk about this later? And before you say anything dad, I have something to do, right now, so if you could just-“ Nico attempted to slither away into the back hallway, but Mr. di Angelo held a hand to his chest.

“Wait right there, Nico,” he said, looking very displeased. “I need you both to-“

Bianca snorted, interrupting his announcement and both of their focuses. “Both of us clearly don't want to go with you to your stupid family event. And who even wants some immature school-age children bothering them at their walk-around family meet-up, anyway? I think you should just tell them we already have plans," Bianca said, hands on her hips like she had a higher rank than her father.

He tapped his chin mockingly. "What kind of plans are you talking about?"  
  
Bianca looked at Nico with a distressed plea on her face. Nico's brain stuttered for an answer. "Uh, we, uh, we can go to this week-long study group thing with my classmates from the accelerated program. Everyone's, uh, bringing a plus one. Bianca's coming with me."

“Nico di Angelo,” his father said. His eyes slanted the same way his sister’s did when she was annoyed. Nico noted how similar they looked right then. “I will _not_ have you excuse yourself from this important event!”

Nico recoiled. “What do you mean?” he expressed angrily. “I _don’t_ want to go. What’s so hard about acknowledging that!“

A small hand held his shoulder. “Lay off, Nico,” Bianca whispered. “We’ve already pissed dad off.”

Glancing at the both of them, their father—and Nico—didn’t break eye contact with each other. The atmosphere changed into an intense strain. Quiet exhales were the only sound in the whole room.

“ _Nico_ ,” Bianca warned in a hushed voice, only so he could hear it. “ _Lay off_.”

After a second, they both looked away from each other, annoyed expressions sporting both of their faces. “Whatever,” Nico grumbled. “I’ll go to your stupid _two week long meeting_.”

He shoved his way out of the room and went up the stairs unhappily.

 

 

 

_“What are_ they _doing here?” Annabeth muttered. “They’re, like, the most troublesome people I’ve ever met? Why would they be here if they cause so much annoyance to the teachers!”_

_Miss Hestia clicked her tongue. “I thought I said no talking, Annie? And that’s not so nice to say, is it?”_

_Annabeth made a face. “Well, number one, you directed those instructions to Connor and Travis—I know this because you looked right at them when you said that—and number two, please do_ not _call me Annie.”_

_Miss Hestia stood still for a second, appearing to be thinking about something. Then she tapped the tip of her pencil on the paper in front of Annabeth. “Finish your test work, dear.” If she wanted to say something about Annabeth using a snappy-tone when talking to her, she didn’t mention it._

_Annabeth seemed to consider this. “Fine, fine. I’ll finish the test.”_

_After that, Nico could hear shoes tap on the floor, legs bouncing in unison. It distracted him, his focus being partially on the sounds of everyone breathing—and that annoying_ tap-tap-tap _-ing of everyone’s feet—and his eyes going rainbow (see: black) from looking at the boring block of text for so long._

_The first question:_ What is the correct answer for the following pattern?

_Below the question were nine boxes with shapes inside of them. One of them—the one on the bottom right—was empty. Below that were six answer choices._

_Nico looked over them. One had one shape in it, and another one had one shape in it and was filled in._

_Looking back and forth, back and forth, back and forth—deciding on one of those answers—all he could put his attention to was the consistent beating of shoes to the floor._

_Agitated, Nico gripped his pencil harder._

_“Would you stop that,” he hissed to Leo. Then he made eye contact to the Stoll brothers, and then Annabeth. “Stop tapping your feet. It’s distracting!”_

_A warm, bony hand laid its fingers firmly on his shoulder. “Don’t be too hard on them. They can’t help it, Nico,” Miss Hestia said. “They have ADHD.”_

_Nico scoffed. “Well,_ I _have ADHD, too, and_ I _can control my foot. Why can’t they?”_

_Leo quirked his lips up. “Sorry, I can’t exactly help it.” He smiled into his sleeve. The shoe tapping got louder. Miss Hestia looked at him disapproving._

_Annabeth smiled thinly. “Sorry, it’s a habit.”_

_Travis cocked his head to the side. “You get annoyed easily?” Connor grinned at that._

_“Good to know…”_

_Grumbling under his breath, Nico turned his head to look at Miss Hestia. “I can’t focus,” he complained._

_The older brunette smiled. “Just try your best, sweetie.”_

Great advice _, Nico thought bitterly. “Okay.”_

_Miss Hestia glanced at everyone, soft eyes looking kindly at them and a passive aggressive smile trying to be subtle about her annoyance._

_They all went back to quietly scratching their No. 2 pencils on their quiz papers._

 

 

 

_“Are any of you done yet?” Miss Hestia asked. She walked around the table. “All of you are about done. No need to rush now—but good job everyone. Let’s wait until Travis is finished so we can have a discussion.”_

_Travis stuck his tongue out of the side of his mouth. “Almost done,” he mumbled. His brows were furrowed in thought._

_Approximately two seconds later, he raised the paper over his eyes. The white, bright lights overhead shone through it._

_“God, Travis. What are you doing?”_

_Travis looked over his shoulder, arms still bent with the test in his hands. “I’m inspecting my answers, obviously.” He places the test in from t of Miss Hestia. “But I’m done now, so you guys can stop staring.”_

_Connor pushed his hair out of his face. “Right. Now what, Miss Hestia?”_

_She gathered the papers into her folder. “We will have a discussion now.” She took a seat next to Leo. “We can start off with Annabeth’s question first, if all of you don’t mind.”_

_All of the students shrugged._

_“Alright, I’d like to say, all of you are brilliant and smart and amazing. Each of you were picked by either the admin or staff for this program because of how you take approach to problems. You see, being gifted doesn’t mean that you’re smart; it means that you perceive information differently than others. Your problem solving skills are out of the box.”_

_“Ah,” Annabeth said. “Okay-“ she eyed Connor and Travis for a second, “-I guess that makes sense.”_

_“Any questions before we move onto the next topic?”_

_Leo raised his hand. “Me.” Miss Hestia nodded to him._

_“Go on, then.”_

_“Does that mean our grades matter in whether or not we’ll get chosen?”_

_Miss Hestia leaned her head against her hand. “It might or might not weigh in on whether or not you’ll get chosen.”_

_He didn’t look satisfied with that answer. “What about our ability to create things?”_

_“Hmm?”_

_“Well, you see, I can make this helicopter type thing spin and basically levitate in the air and-“_

_“Your ability to create things? Well, that has to do with your problem solving skills. So perhaps.”_

_Leo presses further. “What if we mature faster than others? What if we have higher responsibilities and dependable and caring and considerate behavior?”_

_Miss Hestia tightly smiled at that. “Your attitude on whether or not you act like your age doesn’t really matter in the accelerated program.”_

_Leo stilled. “Oh,” he said. He sank back into his chair._

_Connor—Travis, perhaps? Nico didn’t know—raised his hand. “If we get picked, what would our schedules be like?”_

_Leo placed his palm on his forehead. “Is this_ outside _of school hours?” His voice squeaked at the end of his sentence._

_“No, not at all. The program will be during your classes, when the rest of your class is figuring out a problem you probably already know how to solve.”_

_And so, Nico let them talk. And talk and talk and talk._ And talk.

_They all blabbered on, adding and adding and_ adding _on to the discussion—but never stopped to listen._

_To listen to the one thing that wanted to be heard—the silent cries of Leo Valdez._

_The only time a soundless thing needed to be heard, was when everybody wasn’t listening._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know anyone with sibling dynamics that don’t include vulgar insults—so this was produced :”)


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